With Herbalist & Author Maria Noël Groves

Learn how to identify common medicinal plants in early spring, with a particular focus on tree, weed, and root medicinal and edible perennials. We will discuss identification resources and tips as well as wildcrafting ethics, as well as medicinal benefits, harvesting tips, and cautions for some common wild plants. Potential plants we may see and discuss include celandine, burdock, horsetail, dandelion, white pine, as well as the “at risk” plant goldthread and it’s medicinal analog, the invasive barberry. We’ll meet (and not touch!) poison ivy. We’ll also discuss reasons why you might not want to wildcraft or forage “trendy” plants and fungi like ramps, ghost pipe, or chaga, as well as special considerations for invasive medicinal species like autumn olive, multiflora rose, Japanese knotweed, and barberry. Rain or shine – please come prepared to walk outdoors, for the weather, bugs, and ticks. Cameras and notebooks recommended.

Maria Noël Groves, RH (AHG), clinical herbalist, runs Wintergreen Botanicals, nestled in the pine forests of Allenstown, New Hampshire. Her business is devoted to education and empowerment via classes, health consultations, and writing with the foundational belief that good health grows in nature. She is the author of the award-winning, best-selling Body into Balance: An Herbal Guide to Holistic Self Care and Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies. Learn more about Maria and herbs at WintergreenBotanicals.com.